Envoy Is Sentenced to Prison in Fatal Crash

By KEVIN M. GRAY

Published: December 20, 1997

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19—
Stripped of his diplomatic immunity, a former envoy of the Republic of Georgia was sentenced today to 7 to 21 years in prison for killing a teen-age girl and injuring four others in January when he was driving while intoxicated.

During sentencing, Judge Harold L. Cushenberry Jr. of District of Columbia Superior Court said he did not impose an extraordinarily stiff sentence on the diplomat, Gueorgui Makharadze, to avoid discouraging other countries from waiving diplomatic immunity in future criminal cases. Mr. Makharadze could have received a sentence of up to 70 years after pleading guilty in October to charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Defense lawyers had argued that the average sentence for a drunken-driving homicide in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia was one to four years.

The fatal accident involving Mr. Makharadze, along with an altercation last December involving diplomats from Russia and Belarus and New York City police officers, reignited the controversy over the bounds of diplomatic immunity.

In Mr. Makharadze's case, President Eduard A. Shevardnadze of Georgia yielded to pressure from the State Department and lifted Mr. Makharadze's immunity in February, opening the way for his trial.

In court today, Mr. Makharadze said he could offer no explanation for his actions. Muttering ''I'm sorry, I'm sorry,'' he asked for forgiveness from Viviane Wagner, the mother of Joviane Waltrick, the 16-year-old who died.

He will receive credit for nearly a year served awaiting a resolution of the case. The case has been closely watched by members of the diplomatic community, many of whom are protected from serious criminal charges under immunity laws .

Georgian officials had initially invoked immunity for Mr. Makharadze, who was the second-ranking official at the embassy. President Shevardnadze of Georgia intervened, however, after a series of conversations with American officials.

In a plea agreement signed in October, Mr. Makharadze admitted to driving nearly 75 miles an hour in a 25 m.p.h. zone after consuming more than six drinks.

His car crashed into three other vehicles lined up at a stop light in Dupont Circle, and the first car in line was propelled 30 feet into the air, landing on a fourth car. Ms. Wagner's daughter was in the second of the cars.

Prosecutors have said Mr. Makharadze's blood alcohol level was at least 0.15 percent. The legal limit in the District of Columbia is 0.10.

Mr. Makharadze had previously used his diplomatic status in a brush with a police officer after he was found driving the wrong way down a street. Not long before, he was stopped for driving at 90 m.p.h. on a Virginia Interstate.

The Georgian Government issued a statement today, saying it ''trusts that Mr. Makharadze will be treated with fairness, dignity and forgiveness during his imprisonment.''

Ms. Wagner, who along with her daughter had emigrated from Brazil to Maryland five months before the accident, has since dedicated much of her time to campaigning for tougher penalties for drunken driving. Judge Cushenberry said he hoped his sentence would send a message about the consequences of drinking and driving, regardless of profession.

Mr. Makharadze's lawyer, E. Lawrence Barcella, argued that Judge Cushenberry had ''chosen the wrong messenger.'' He said the accident was ''clearly an aberration.''

A State Deprtment spokesman, James Foley, described the sentence as fair.

Photos: Viviane Wagner, whose daughter died in the January crash, with sons Ricardo Melero, left, and Jose Melero Neto outside court yesterday. Gueorgui Makharadze, left, was sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison. (Photographs by Associated Press)